Quivogne AP 28 discs review

With spring cultivation in full swing (or almost finished for some), Jaiden headed to Canterbury to test the Quivogne AP 28 discs.

There is a lot to like about travelling through rural New Zealand and meeting the locals. This month was no different when I visited South Canterbury and met up with ‘Fridge’ and no, I have no idea what his real name is.

So why are we testing a set of 10-year-old discs? It wasn’t until I caught up with Fridge (who wasn’t named Chatterbox for a reason) and saw the working environment that it dawned on me as to why this set of offset discs was so significant.

Fridge works for Yateman Brothers, which operates a land clearing business that specialises in converting forest to pasture.

The land clearing process is hard on gear and most contractors know that anything that goes in the ground, whether it is a plough or a set of discs, will face the problem of rocks, but often a worse problem is wood, so coming across both is a nightmare that these set of discs face often. Once the wood is windrowed with the root rake, the discs are then pulled around with a large leveller behind to create a nice level finished paddock.

To be fair, these discs take a hiding but don’t have to contend with some other issues that most contractors will face with sticky soil and getting bogged in marginal land, so I can’t comment on the scaper’s ability to keep the discs clean although they were all still straight and intact which says something about their strength if nothing else. The tyres had been replaced with truck tyres for durability as the standard ones couldn’t ‘handle the jandal’, although these truck ones would be terrible for general ag work with getting bogged and lifting the transport wheels may not make the situation any better.

Looking around the Yateman Brothers’ yard I could see these guys were not about flashy toys, instead their gear is of an era where diesel goes in and horsepower comes out. The D8 wouldn’t look out of place in a museum, and the 7800 Johnny towing the discs wasn’t pretty, but it does provide good, honest American horsepower – not that it was under stress pulling these 12-foot-wide discs.

So the answer to the original question – why test a 10 year old set of discs? Firstly, the 10-year-old Quivogne discs are still sold new through Farmchief, although they look marginally different. And, secondly, taking a look at a 10-year-old set of discs working in a tough and demanding environment proves they are built tough and able to handle some big demands, those that have operated them over that decade can certainly vouch for that.

The verdict

Quivogne manufactures a wide range of discs from 500kg total weight up to 12 tonne and from 30-700hp pulling requirement and from one- to 13-metre working width. So these discs are not built by some Johnny-come-lately Frenchman with a stick welder. As I mentioned, it is hard to say what these discs are like in steep, wet boggy country which is where most discs end up as it is too difficult to plough, but one thing is for sure they can handle the boney tough going – well for 10 years at least.

If this set is anything to go by, they don’t look like giving up any time soon. They say a picture is worth more than a thousand words, but in this case I think the video really does this machine justice. It’s not so much what you’ll see in the video, but more importantly what you’ll hear. The sound of the discs climbing and crunching their way over boulders and large chunks of wood is quite impressive. Although the discs are no oil painting, in some ways it is amazing they look as good as they do.

Pros

Have definitely stood the test of time.

Larger optional 50mm main shaft hasn’t caused any issues.

Made a nice finish in what marginal top soil was available without throwing a ridge to one side.

Good basic set of discs with manual adjustment although the hydraulic ram for increased drawbar travel is a must in undulating conditions so you don’t snap the top off the drawbar.

Scrapers must be very durable because they are not bent or damaged and they have seen a lot of wood and rock.

Cons

The test machine tyres are good for this particular application although may not be so good for general Ag work. The standard tyres chew out very quickly with the weight on the road so upgrading the tyres for high road users would be a worthwhile consideration.

Read the full tractor review in the latest issue (#225) of Farm Trader magazine. Subscribe here.